Magic Kingdom Cleanliness Issues

[boomhauer]

Has anyone else noticed how bad a shape Splash Mountain is in lately? This is probably my favorite attraction in all of Disney World, and it made me so sad to see how awful it looked last month.

I hate to say this, as I'm not a fan of shutting rides down for extended periods of time, but it needs it. They need to shut the ride down for a week or 2, go through, paint, fix all the broken characters, fix all the broken set pieces, clean up some of the characters. I read that Splash Mountain was the most popular attraction in Disney World. If it is, then why are they letting it get to the point it's at.

Also, what is up with the TTA by Space Mountain??? Has that EVER been painted or cleaned?

Magic Kingdom, to me, is the most beautiful man made creation on earth. There's no place else I'd rather be, but why is Disney, who swears that cutbacks aren't affecting these types of things, letting some portions of the park get in this condition?

 

[jann1033]

oops!

 

[OhioTony]

I noticed a few instances of this.. I think they need to start a WWWD campaign! ( What Would Walt Do)!!!

 

[bigmac5]

I like what they did with Its a Small World. So clean and fresh

 

[annie1995]

Has anyone else noticed how bad a shape Splash Mountain is in lately? This is probably my favorite attraction in all of Disney World, and it made me so sad to see how awful it looked last month.

I hate to say this, as I'm not a fan of shutting rides down for extended periods of time, but it needs it. They need to shut the ride down for a week or 2, go through, paint, fix all the broken characters, fix all the broken set pieces, clean up some of the characters. I read that Splash Mountain was the most popular attraction in Disney World. If it is, then why are they letting it get to the point it's at.

They had a hard time keeping Splash Mountain running while we were there in September. It was shut down 4-5 different times over the 7 days we were in the parks. It shut down on September 24th when we were in line for it, and it never reopened that day while we were there. I agree that one needs repair work.

 

[goofy's friends]

We were there that 3rd week in Sept. also and I remember my husband and I commenting several times how warn some things looked (splash Mtn.), even some things that are fairly new. It doesn't seem that they are keeping up with things like thaey used to, which is very sad.

 

[bigmac5]

They had a hard time keeping Splash Mountain running while we were there in September. It was shut down 4-5 different times over the 7 days we were in the parks. It shut down on September 24th when we were in line for it, and it never reopened that day while we were there. I agree that one needs repair work.

We were there the last week of Aug and it was shut down first thing in the morning due to "technical difficulties" We did get to ride it later--sounds like we were lucky

 

[dixipixi]

I LOVE the idea of the WWWD? campaign!!!

While I didn't particularly notice SM being run down, I did notice the worn look all over MK.

When we were on SM, someone had actually thrown trash out of their boat into one of the little scenes. That is just inexcusable!!! Maybe I was so put off by that I didn't notice the rest of the attraction being run down.

Why would you take trash into an attraction to begin with? There are garbage cans all over the place.

 

[bicker]

It's a sickness, I think, spreading like wildfire. I have found that guests are far more disrespectful, to CMs, to each other, and to the property, than they were just 10 years ago. And it shows. And it is not just at WDW -- it's everywhere.

 

[Leota]

Bicker, ITA that guests don't seem to respect the property the way they used to - I think society in general seems to lack the respect & dignity that it once had.

But, Disney has been slowly slipping on maintenance issues & it is so sad. It is a big part of what sets Disney apart from other theme parks. They are shooting themselves in the foot with this lax approach.
Re. Splash (Trash) Mountain, in April, I noticed a spent water bottle in the Garden scene outside. That same exact water bottle was in the same exact place when we rode in August. WTH is up with that? Disney can & should be doing better than that.

I have Faith that Disney will get back on the ball again. It seems cyclical. For awhile DL was in bad shape & sinking. Now it's in Shining Shape while WDW moulders. I suspect that WDW will turn around again & DL will have another period of fade.

 

[bicker]

Maybe they should not touch that water bottle -- any water bottle that can withstand four months of Florida weather without moving is clearly possessed!

 

[boomhauer]

Bicker, ITA that guests don't seem to respect the property the way they used to - I think society in general seems to lack the respect & dignity that it once had.

But, Disney has been slowly slipping on maintenance issues & it is so sad. It is a big part of what sets Disney apart from other theme parks. They are shooting themselves in the foot with this lax approach.
Re. Splash (Trash) Mountain, in April, I noticed a spent water bottle in the Garden scene outside. That same exact water bottle was in the same exact place when we rode in August. WTH is up with that? Disney can & should be doing better than that.

I agree with this post totally. I noticed the same type of issue. Granted, it was at my resort. But it still is Disney. I left for one of the parks on Thursday morning at All Star Movies, and there was a pizza box sitting on top of the trash can at the bottom of the stairway. When I checked out on Sunday morning, that pizza box was still there.

It's been said before, Universal seems to have realized if it was to compete with Disney, they needed to take the old Disney approach of keeping it crystal clean and fresh looking, which Disney clearly isn't doing anymore.

 

[Leota]

Maybe they should not touch that water bottle -- any water bottle that can withstand four months of Florida weather without moving is clearly possessed!

Good Point! I wonder if it was glued in place....part of the new ambiance.

 

[perdidobay]

Maybe some propane and propane accessories will fix her right up.
Hank H


( sorry, boomhauer, I couldn't resist!)

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

Splash is easily the filthiest ride in the Magic Kingdom. Typically the pads on the logs are shabby and for some reason, people like to stick their gum on the rocks in the queue. Also, I can't remember a time where at least one of the animatronic chracters are non operational. Don't know why, but the problems at Splash Mountain seem like they are never fully fixed.

 

[bicker]

I bet it's especially bad towards the end of the Summer, since there is no way they'd willingly close Splash Mountain to do a good cleaning during this time of year. Once it gets cooler, they'll likely have fewer guests dissatisfied about Splash Mountain being closed for a few days of clean-up.

 

[nuzmom]

We were at WDW last month. I agree that splash mountain needs some good cleaning and fixup. My DH, DS9, and DS4 was stuck on SM on Sept 20th for 50 minutes!!!! Oh, and it rained and yes they were stuck outside, so they sat in the rain for 20 minutes (the ride started again and then stopped again). It was shut down the rest of the day. Oh, they got free ADULT sized ponchos AFTER they got off and some fastpasses. Anyway, I'm getting away from my real point.

When we rode SM earlier in our trip, my husband got in a log that had a drink cup in the bottom of it. He tried to give it to a CM before we got moving, but was ignored. When we were on our way and he gave up on getting a CMs attention, he notice a "substance" all over the front part of the inside of the log, were your knees go. When the ride ended, he took the cup and handed it to a CM (who didn't want to take it) and told her that there is POOP smeared in the log. Yes, that's what I said. Now, I didn't see it, but after DH got done washing up in the bathroom and told me what happened, I tried to convince him that maybe it was chewing tobacco or something else? He said "I know what I saw". Also, the ride did NOT stop, the next people got in, etc. YUCK!!!! (I do feel badly for the CMs who have to clean stuff like that up, come on, it's a RIDE, not bathroom patrol!!!!)

Oh, my reason for saying all of this.... Obviously, I TOTALLY agree that society as a whole has gone WAY down hill with respect to how we treat each other and the property of others.

 

[bytheblood]

They had a hard time keeping Splash Mountain running while we were there in September. It was shut down 4-5 different times over the 7 days we were in the parks. It shut down on September 24th when we were in line for it, and it never reopened that day while we were there. I agree that one needs repair work.

We had the same thing happen in June.

Also, Figment was busted while we were on it. The entire ride was off. There was a mechanical issue on The Great Movie Ride and there was one more, but I cannot remember what it was.

 

[bicker]

He tried to give it to a CM before we got moving, but was ignored.

CMs that operate rides have very specific, safety-related responsibilities. It is best not to distract them from something that could be critical to ensuring the safety of your ride and that of the other guests. It there was a cement brick in the log, that would be one thing, but a soda cup is probably not dangerous.

I tried to convince him that maybe it was chewing tobacco or something else?

While kids have been known to have accidents on rides, I'd put my money on mud from someone's shoes. Regardless, I question the impact on guest satisfaction from closing the attraction for cleaning each time there is some mess in the log. Also, keep in mind that if it wasn't mud, but rather some (ahem) biological material, OSHA regulations would require that special precautions be taken by those cleaning it up, likely necessitating the ride being closed.

I TOTALLY agree that society as a whole has gone WAY down hill with respect to how we treat each other and the property of others.

And the only way to confront that is to ensure that we and ours do what's right, and foster forces that reward such perspectives while punish the opposing perspectives.

 

[nuzmom]

I didn't want to go into more detail, but to me it sounded like Bicker made it sound like we did something wrong and I want to clarify a few things.

There were a couple of CM that were standing and watching people load and that's who we were trying to hand the mug to. And, it was one of those resort refillable mugs (almost a brick ) Yes, they have a job to do and we were respectful of that. We didn't yell and scream, just tried to had it to them. In hindsight, if my DH had taken just 2 more seconds to look around, he probably would have yelled and scream (right or wrong, he would have). I don't blame the CMs for ignoring us at that point.

The resort mug was "dirty" and gross and the thought of it rolling into your foot or leg was not a pleasant thought. (I saw it) My husband said he ended up putting his foot on top of it during the ride so it wouldn't roll over to our DS side (and touch him).

The "substance" that was smeared in the log was also on the hand bar. That IS a safety issue. My DH rode without grabbing the bar, but if it had been on my DSs side - what do you do? He would have to grab "it". Yuck.

Lastly, as gross as it sounds, my husband later concluded that the mug may have been used to transport the "substance" into the log and then abandonded. Yes, I know this is really crazy to think that this happened, but my DH is convinced of it and that some sicko got some sort of kick out of this. All I know is that the mug was gross, my DH RAN with my DS to the bathroom to wash up afterwards, and I trust my DH.

My DH did try to do the right thing and tell a CM and, yes, as bad as it was to be stuck on SM for 50 minutes, I would take that over riding in a log with something like that smeared on the grab bar and front.